Over at 9-to-5 Mac, Mark Gurman reports that BestBuy is bundling the iPad with mobile hotspot hardware. The catch? A two-year contract with either Verizon, AT&T or Sprint. Clear and Virgin not part of the deal for obvious reasons when you look at their non-promo service plans. According to ThinkMobile, the MiFi is not locked to the iPad (reportedly it is with Verizon) … [Read more...] about Rewards For Those Who Wait? BestBuy Holiday iPad Bundle
Just for A Moment, Pause Here With Us in the Valley of the Rockies…
Blessed holidays... the daylight will soon stay longer... the pelts on the horses grow thicker now... the rabbits are wearing their white fur coats... the red tails can be more easily seen against the snow... the red foxes show themselves in daylight trotting across the open fields, the night sky is deep blue velvet, there are sheep in the shelter side of the wind, and … [Read more...] about Just for A Moment, Pause Here With Us in the Valley of the Rockies…
Inside The Mortgage Monster
I reviewed Michael W. Hudson's The Monster at Newshoggers and here at The Moderate Voice. Do you like a good crime novel – a corporate crime novel? If so The Monster: How a gang of predatory lenders and Wall Street bankers fleeced America – and spawned a global crisis by Michael W. Hudson is for you. Unfortunately it's not a fictional novel but the history of the mortgage … [Read more...] about Inside The Mortgage Monster
The Happy Meal Lawsuit: Nanny State run amuck or American as Apple Pie?
Every once in a while a story emerges from nowhere almost perfectly calibrated to reignite the culture wars. This week it's the lawsuit filed by a Sacramento mother against McDonald's for tempting her 6-year old daughter with Happy Meal toys. It follows up on a threatened suit by the Center for Science in the Public Interest over the same issue. As Michael Jacobson of the … [Read more...] about The Happy Meal Lawsuit: Nanny State run amuck or American as Apple Pie?
WikiLeaks Undermines ‘Radical Left’; Confirms American Competence: Romanian Libera, Romania
One would be hard pressed to find a country - or a media - more supportive of American exceptionalism than Romania. In a column sure to warm the Christmas hearts of the American right, columnist Cristian Campeanu of Romania Libera writes that despite the massive evidence WikiLeaks has provided of the accuracy of America's global view, the 'real' world continues to obstinately … [Read more...] about WikiLeaks Undermines ‘Radical Left’; Confirms American Competence: Romanian Libera, Romania
Changing Not Hearts or Minds But Habits
As Congress inches toward allowing gay men and women to die openly for their country, the history of American bigotry comes back to an octogenarian who has lived through so much of it: *A father-in-law who went to medical school in Scotland because American universities had filled their Hebrew quotas. *My own experience in the 1950s as the first Jew to be hired by George … [Read more...] about Changing Not Hearts or Minds But Habits
America’s Economic Exceptionalism
Many countries have a sense of being exceptional. The idea here is that their special relationship with God, or their indigenous holy sites, or some ruins of a great civilization past, or a battle that saved civilization, or some political innovation that has become the guiding light of the world, makes their own land a heck of a lot better and more important than all the … [Read more...] about America’s Economic Exceptionalism
Enough, Already
This is very difficult for me to write but as you can see, to hell with it. It's not that I do not agree that Congress finally overturned the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy banning gays from the military. I do. Should have been done years ago and a pox on President Clinton who instigated the subterfuge in 1991. It is not that I am not gay and is none of my damn business. … [Read more...] about Enough, Already
So Long To Ya, 2010: The JibJab 2010 Year in Review!
The geniuses at Jib Jab have done it again. Here's their latest musical animated video: So Long To Ya, 2010 -- a song and dance from Barack Obama and Joe Biden: … [Read more...] about So Long To Ya, 2010: The JibJab 2010 Year in Review!
Around the Sphere Blog Roundup
Here’s our popular linkfest takling you to blogs and websites of varying opinions. Liinks do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Moderate Voice or its many writers. GRADING THE LAMEDUCK CONGRESS: Liberals are sounding pleased about how the lame duck Congress has generally worked and so are some conservatives. Labeling No Labels: This one is predictable. A group … [Read more...] about Around the Sphere Blog Roundup
John McCain’s Very Sad Day
As follow-up to the comments of Joe and Dorian on John McCain's DADT performance yesterday, I point to James Fallows writing on the mystery of John McCain: I can remember when McCain seemed to be a potentially Eisenhower-ish, as opposed to an increasingly Bunning-like, figure in American public life. Broad-minded, tolerant, eager to bridge rather than open divides -- this was … [Read more...] about John McCain’s Very Sad Day
Delivering the Debt
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Delivering the Debt
Disney and Handel
A wonderful combination If you ever have a chance to be at one of the parks for the Candlelight processional it is well worth watching, regardless of your faith. … [Read more...] about Disney and Handel
DADT Repeal—Not “a Sad Day”
While generals, admirals, sailors and privates — and the American people — have honestly and openly expressed their opinions on the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” (DADT) and their reasoning behind them, it became painfully and embarrassingly obvious that one powerful Republican, for whatever reason, would only listen to one unchangeable, immoveable and prejudicial opinion: … [Read more...] about DADT Repeal—Not “a Sad Day”
Quote of the Day: Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal Makes You Imagine a McCain Administration
Our political Quote of the Day comes from Andrew Sullivan who suggests that today's repeat of Don't Ask Don't Tell by the Senate says a lot about Barack Obama's style and John McCain: Like 2009's removal of the HIV ban, which was as painstakingly slow but thereby much more entrenched, this process took time. Without the Pentagon study, it wouldn't have passed. Without … [Read more...] about Quote of the Day: Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal Makes You Imagine a McCain Administration
The Shameful Treatment of Bradley Manning
David Coombs, the attorney representing Army PFC Bradley Manning, has a detailed description on his blog of what a typical day is like for Bradley Manning (emphasis is added; the italicized text is my commentary): … [Read more...] about The Shameful Treatment of Bradley Manning
Justice, Citizenship and Patriotism: The Long View
On this day, December 18, 145 years ago, Secretary of State William Seward proclaimed the Thirteenth Amendment banning "slavery and involuntary servitude" from American life a part of the Constitution. The Amendment both ratified a fait accompli from the recent Civil War, and delivered its emancipating reality to the final holdout states of Delaware and Kentucky, which had yet … [Read more...] about Justice, Citizenship and Patriotism: The Long View
DADT Senate Vote
The Senate voted 65-31 to repeal the military's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy today, a Clinton-era response to the Reagan Administration discharge of 17,000 troops for being gay. Here's the vote, 63 to 33, to proceed with debate on the bill. Once there is a report of the final vote (the two Republicans who, it seems, changed their vote), I will update this. Final … [Read more...] about DADT Senate Vote
DADT Repealed !
Offering a Christmas present to the brave men and women who have been forced to lie in order serve our country the Senate has voted by a margin of 65-31 to repeal the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. This is of course not the end of the process, the bill still has to be signed by the President and it will then take some time for the military to change their own rules to … [Read more...] about DADT Repealed !
House Republicans Scuttle Bill to Help Prevent Child Marriage Globally
The bill does not have anything to do with abortion and does not appropriate any new funding, but House Republicans used both of those boogeymen to ensure its failure to pass in the House (h/t Echidne): … [Read more...] about House Republicans Scuttle Bill to Help Prevent Child Marriage Globally